Precious Heritage. The Status of Biodiversityn in the United Sates. 2000. 339 col. figs. 432 p. gr8vo. Hardcover.

From the lush forests of Appalachia to the frozen tundra of Alaska, from the Midwest's prairies to Hawaii's rainforests, the United States harbors a remarkable array of ecosystems, which in turn sustain an enormous variety of plant and animal life. A celebration of this extraordinary biological wealth, Precious Heritage draws together for the first time a quarter century of information collected by the network of natural heritage programs. This richly illustrated volume not only documents the enormous breadth of U.S. biodiversity, but also considers how our species and ecosystems are faring, what is threatening them, and what is needed to protect the nation's natural inheritance.